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Here's why we're all so obsessed with the end of the world, according to Psychology

Here's why we're all so obsessed with the end of the world, according to Psychology

Congratulations, we’ve survived yet another failed doomsday prediction. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before we brace for another. It seems that humanity is truly fascinated by End-of-the-World predictions. A closer look inside our own minds may help to explain why this is.

The concept of the world ending in a catastrophic single event is nothing new, and plays a central role in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Doomsday scenarios even predate organized religion—the oldest written story, the 5,000-year-old Sumerian text The Epic of Gilgamesh—relays a horrific sequence in which a Goddess threatens to raise the dead from the underworld to haunt the living. Welcome to your next Netflix binge watch.

Clearly many humans are obsessed with the idea of doomsday, but why? To answer that question, Newsweek turned to some experts. Dr. Daniel Sullivan, a social psychologist from the University of Arizona, has done research on both what motivates people to believe in conspiracies and how religion affects how people think about negative events. According to Sullivan, this global fascination may stem from our desire to mentally reduce the actual danger and evil in the world.